Orthopedics Today's December 2018 print cover story looks at how pre-operative medical optimization can help reduce post-operative complications in orthopedic surgery patients.

Joseph M. Lane, MD, chief of the Metabolic Bone Disease Service at HSS, explains that HSS does not do elective surgery on patients with diabetes mellitus, specifically, with a HbA1c that is above 8 percent.

When it comes to vitamin D, it's best for a patient's level to be about 30 ng/mL for elective surgery. "You need vitamin D to mineralize your bone and if you do not have vitamin D, you cannot mineralize your bone. People with low vitamin D are going to be low healing," says Dr. Lane.

Read the full article at Healio.com. This also appeared as the cover story of the December 2018 print issue.